Hake Moqueca with Coconut Milk

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g frozen hake fillets
• 2 limes
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 brown onion (about 150 g)
• 1 red pepper + 1 yellow pepper (about 180 g each)
• 3 tomatoes (about 120 g each)
• 1 tin coconut milk (400 ml)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 20 g fresh coriander
• 240 g long-grain rice
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large sauté pan with lid
• Saucepan
• Colander
• Deep dish
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. The day before, put the hake in the fridge to thaw on a deep plate (or for 1 hour in a sealed bag submerged in cold water). Drain it, pat dry with kitchen paper and cut into large chunks of about 5 cm.
2. Put the fish in the deep dish with the juice of one lime, the crushed garlic, ½ tsp salt and some pepper. Mix gently and leave to marinate in the fridge for 15 minutes, no longer: the lime would start to “cook” the fish.
3. Meanwhile, cook the rice for about 11 minutes in a pan of boiling salted water, drain and keep warm, covered. Peel the onion and slice it into thin rings, deseed the peppers and cut into strips, and slice the tomatoes into rounds.
4. Heat the oil in the sauté pan over medium heat. Soften the onion for 3 minutes, add the peppers and cook for 4 minutes, stirring, until they soften. Sprinkle with the paprika and stir for 30 seconds without letting it burn, or it will turn bitter.
5. Transfer half the vegetables to a plate. Spread the hake and its marinade over the vegetables left in the pan, cover with the tomato slices, then with the reserved vegetables and half the chopped coriander.
6. Shake the tin of coconut milk well and pour it over everything with ½ tsp salt. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes over low heat without stirring, as a spoon would break up the fish: just shake the pan from time to time.
7. Check it's cooked: the hake should be white and flake easily with a fork. Taste the broth, adjust the salt and add the juice of half the second lime. Cut the other half into wedges for serving.
8. Serve in bowls over the rice, spooning over plenty of broth, scattered with the rest of the coriander and with the lime wedges for everyone to squeeze over to taste.